Farmers Help Fight Food Waste by Donating Wholesome Food

From the USDA:

Posted by Jimmy Nguyen, Food and Nutrition Service, on April 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM

Chris Pawelski, a fourth generation farmer, grows 51 acres of onions. He donates excess onions that would otherwise go to waste to a food rescue organization and gets a reimbursement for his efforts.

Sometimes Mother Nature and hard work come together to produce a bountiful harvest on the farm.  But what if the grocery store, distributor, or processor that the farmer sells to can’t handle any excess?  Or, what if a percentage of the crop turns out too big, too small, or oddly shaped and no one will buy it?  Organizations across the country are working with farmers to get this wholesome produce to people who need it.

Many farms may want to donate directly to a food bank, but are discouraged because they currently can’t claim a tax deduction for the donations. To help farms offset the costs of the labor required to harvest the crop and the packaging to transport it, many food banks and food recovery groups are able to assist the farmer with the “pick and pack out” (PPO) cost.  The PPO cost can be very beneficial to a farmer.  Chris Pawelski, a fourth generation onion farmer at Pawelski farms in Goshen, New York, donates his nutritious-but-undersized onions to City Harvest.  City Harvest is a food rescue organization in New York City that has been connecting good, surplus food with hungry New Yorkers since 1982.  The PPO cost that is paid to Pawelski by City Harvest in some years was the determining factor in keeping his farm from losing money.

In 2011, Hurricane Irene and Tropic Storm Lee destroyed Pawelski’s onion plants, leaving 3 out of 51 acres harvestable and Pawelski was left several hundred thousand dollars in debt.  His dire circumstances led Chris to famously auction a 50 lb. bag of onions for $150,000 online.  The following 2 years, hot and dry weather left many of his onions undersized for the No.1 grade required by many supermarkets.  Pawelski could have sold them to a secondary processor to turn into onion flavoring for processed food, but they had the same nutritional value as standard sized onions so he preferred that they help feed low-income families. He donated them to City Harvest, and in this case, the PPO cost provided was the same amount as what a processor would pay.

Pawelski’s onion fields destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.

“City Harvest has been a fantastic organization to work with over the years. Not only have they helped people who they provide food for, but they have immensely helped farmers like me. If not for City Harvest, in 2012 and 2013 I would have not made a living and provided for my family, and I would have actually needed food assistance,” says Pawelski.  City Harvest works with 77 farms across the country including in California, Maine, and Florida.

Pawelski would like to see food banks and food rescue organizations across the country receive grants to purchase secondary grade produce from farmers at market price.  “Some sort of ‘Farm to Food Bank’ grant would help out millions of food insecure people, giving them access to healthy and nutritious food. It would greatly benefit the wholesale farmer, opening up a massive market for produce that up to this point has been inaccessible,” explains Pawelski.

For food waste advocates, Pawelski’s proposal would also have the added benefit of keeping food from rotting out in the fields or being plowed under after all the hard work and resources that went into growing it.  Advocates believe helping farmers create new markets for their secondary produce could help farmers, feed low-income people quality food, and keep food out of landfills, creating a win-win-win situation.

City Harvest, a food rescue organization in New York City, gets donated food from farms and providers across the country as far as California and Florida. Some farmers get reimbursed for the packaging and labor costs associated with the donation. In 2014, they rescued over 46 million pounds of food from restaurants, grocers, hotels, bakeries, and of course, farmers and farmers markets.

    

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Tags: California, City Harvest, Farmers, Feeding America, Florida, food banks, food recovery, food rescue,Food Waste, gleaning, Hurricane Irene, Let’s Glean, Maine, New York, onions, Pawelski Farm, PPO,reimbursement, U.S. Food Waste Challenge

USDA Delivers on Ways to Prevent Food Waste

From USDA:

Posted by Elise Golan, Director of Sustainability Development, USDA, on December 15, 2014 at 9:30 AM

Researchers at USDA Agricultural Research Service help reduce food waste by developing new ways to extend food shelf life and by creating new food products, biobased plastics, and animal feed from food waste. USDA photo by Stephen Ausmus.

Less than 2 years ago, the USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, with the goal of reducing food waste in the United States.  We set an ambitious goal of having at least 400 businesses, schools, and/or organizations join the challenge by letting us know what they are doing to reduce food waste in their operations.  USDA also committed to finding ways in which its 33 agencies and offices could help reduce food waste through policy, partnerships, and research.

As of today, we have surpassed our membership goal by signing up 1,313 participants in the U.S. Food Waste Challenge.

The number and diversity of participants joining the challenge are indicative of a growing movement to reduce food waste that is spreading across the country.

Founding members, Rio Farms, Unilever, General Mills, and the Food Waste Reduction Alliance have been joined by members from across the food supply chain.  Hannaford, a supermarket chain in the Northeast, recently joined the U.S. Food Waste Challenge and shared the many ways in which it keeps food from ending up in landfills.  Using the “food recovery hierarchy,” Hannaford tries to reduce food waste at the source by having fresh products delivered on a daily basis instead of 3-4 times per week.  Daily deliveries lead to more accurate ordering, less food waste, and improvements in quality.  Safeway, another supermarket chain participating in the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, donates the wholesome, edible food that goes unsold in their stores to feed hungry people.  In 2013, Safeway recovered and donated 72 million pounds of food to hunger relief organizations.

Other participants in our challenge like K-12 schools, universities, and sports teams are also involved in food recovery and donation activities.  With the help of organizations like Campus Kitchens and Food Recovery Network, over 120 colleges and universities have started food recovery efforts in their dining facilities to donate wholesome unsold food to local food pantries.  Sports teams like the Milwaukee Brewers and movie studios like NBC Universal have also signed up for the challenge because of their work with Rock and Wrap It Up!, an organization that recovers and donates unsold food at sporting events and movie shoots.

Moving down the food recovery hierarchy, some participants in our challenge keep food from landfills by converting it to livestock feed.  Four Minnesota schools in the Chisago Lakes School District have their food waste picked up by Barthold Pig Farm, where it is then heated and fed to pigs. The 72 McDonalds’ in Hawaii now sell their used cooking oil to Pacific Biodiesel, where it is then recycled into fuel.

Not to be outdone by all of our U.S. Food Waste Challenge participants, the USDA also delivered on reducing food waste through our policies, partnerships, and research.  USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) continues to study and provide estimates on how much food goes uneaten at the retail and consumer level.  The estimated pounds, monetary value, and calories of food loss that USDA ERS reportshelps policymakers, the food industry, and nonprofits better explain the food waste issue to the public, make recommendations, and set targeted goals.

Through the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA is researching and developing new products that help 1) reduce food spoilage; 2) reuse waste from food processing to produce new value-added products; and 3) recycle food waste into livestock feed or biobased products such as biodegradable plastics. ARS, for example, helped Gorge Delight, a grower-owned business, develop a 100% fruit bar that uses blemished or damaged apples and pears from their orchards that would have otherwise been discarded.  Not only does ARS’s work help reduce food waste, but it also creates new economic opportunities in rural areas.

For consumers and families, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has updated the “Ask Karen” website, which is visited over 10 million times a year, to answer people’s questions on how to safely handle, prepare, and store food.  FSIS, which is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe and correctly labeled, recently streamlined procedures for donating wholesome misbranded meat and poultry products.  In April 2014, as a result of this directive, FSIS was involved in the donation of approximately 84,310 pounds of misbranded pork sausage.  The misbranded product was donated to the Westmoreland County Food Bank and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Finally, here at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., the cafeteria, which serves up to 3,000 people a day, has found some innovative ways to reduce food waste.  The dining service company, IL Creations, holds “Happy Hour” from 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm, at which food is sold at a 30% discount to reduce the amount of unsold leftovers.  For people with eyes bigger than their stomachs, USDA has promoted composting and made it easy for employees by placing composting bins all over the building.   In 2014, USDA headquarters composted about 2,650 pounds of food waste per week.  This represents about a 10% increase from 2013, which is double our original goal of a 5% increase.

The goal we had for launching the U.S. Food Waste Challenge was to help inspire organizations and individuals across the food supply chain to start reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste in their day-to-day operations.  What we didn’t expect was how much your energy, passion, and support would push us to do more.  Indeed there is so much more work to be done to reduce food waste in America, and we want to continue working on this issue for years to come.

USDA FSIS recently changed guidelines on donation of mislabeled meat and poultry products. In April 2014, this new directive led to 84,310 pounds of misbranded pork sausage being donated to local food pantries instead of being dumped into a landfill.

Thanksgiving Is a Great Time to Start Reducing Food Waste with Friends & Family

From USDA:

Posted by Dr. Elise Golan, USDA Food Waste Challenge Team, on November 24, 2014 at 1:00 PM

On average, these polts will take 4 to 5 months to make weight. It takes a lot of natural resources, energy, labor, and love to raise the estimated 46 million turkeys that will be consumed this Thanksgiving. Show your appreciation by making sure you waste as little food as possible. Photo courtesy of USDA.

Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate all that is good in our lives and to spend it in the company of friends and family while enjoying great food.  It is also a time to reflect on the bounty of our food supply.  Each year, as I put away the leftovers from my Thanksgiving dinner, I marvel at the abundance.

I also can’t avoid pausing to consider how much food is wasted in this country.

USDA estimates that on average, American consumers waste about one-fifth of food that is available to them, equivalent to about $371 per person annually.  That’s enough money to buy about 21 whole turkeys for each person in the country.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could make reducing food waste one of our Thanksgiving traditions?  A tradition we practice throughout the year?

Reducing food waste starts with meal planning.

Before you start shopping, take stock of what you have in your refrigerator and cupboards so that you don’t end up tossing extras.  A friend of mine uses an “Eat Me First” bin, so that the most perishable items are not lost at the back of the refrigerator. On Thanksgiving, using up the food currently in your refrigerator is particularly important to clear room for all of those Thanksgiving ingredients and post-Thanksgiving leftovers.  Careful menu planning and portion control helps to minimize waste.  When buying a turkey, USDA recommends allowing for one pound of turkey per person.

Thanksgiving leftovers can be substantial, particularly when the gatherings are large.  Take time to make sure leftovers are refrigerated within two hours from when they are hot and have guests leave with something tasty to take home and eat later.  Leftovers can be delicious and the reason for gathering once more with friends and family.

Many of my friends host Leftover Parties the day after Thanksgiving, which can sometimes spark debate among the partygoers as to whose pecan pie was better.  “The Friday after Thanksgiving is like a de facto National Leftovers Day – it’s the one day of the year where almost everyone enjoys leftovers,” says Jonathan Bloom, a food-waste author and blogger.  Of course, if you don’t have time to party with leftovers, you can simply store them.  Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days or safely frozen for up to a year.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to begin food waste reduction strategies in your household that can gradually become habit for every day of the year.  No one wants to throw delicious Thanksgiving food into the trash or compost bin, but shouldn’t we treat all food that we eat with the same amount of respect year-round?

So here’s a toast to a Happy and Food Waste Free Thanksgiving.